Loom

ABSTRACT

A loom wherein one side of the machine is used for supplying the warp and weft material and removing the rolls of cloth while the details of the weaving operation are carried out on the other side. There is ready access to all parts of the loom, the complete weaving shed is readily visible and very little space is required compared to standard looms. The movements of the dobby are transmitted to the heald frames by means of interconnected links and levers and in a modification, cables and pulleys are substituted for intermediate links and levers. The movement of the frames and their levers is accomplished in substantially horizontal superposed planes while said movement is provided by members moving in juxtaposed vertical planes in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames.

United States Patent PATENTED JuLzo um SHEET 1 UF 7 INVENTOR LBE/ST E, Mpix/NGE@ BY fe ATTORNEY PATENTEU Julzorsr: 3, 593, 752

snm a nf 7 INVENTOR LBEBT E. /MmSS/NGE/Q ATTORNEY PATENIED JUL20 Isn SHEET 3 UF 7 FIG.6

FIGB

MINIMUM! INVENT OR /QBEET E M55/NGE@ ATTORNEY PATENYED JUL 20 ma SHEET l; UF 7 INVENT OR /QLBEQT E, MUESS//GE/g ATTOR NEY PATENIED JUL o mi;

SHEU e UF 7 FIG.

INV ENTOR ATTORNEY LOOM This application is a continuation-inpart of my application Ser. No. 643,029, filed May 29, 1967 now abandoned.

Maintenance of the loom in modern weaving operations is separate from the weaving operation itself, and is carried out by a separate crew. lt is therefore desirable to provide an ar rangement whereby each function can be carried out without interfering with the other.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a loom wherein the arrangement of the various parts is such that it permits obtaining maximum efficiency form the point of view of control of the quality of the cloth produced, ease of access to all vital elements of the loom, and visibility of the entire weaving shed while insuring a minimum of space occupied. The loom according to the present invention provides one side of the machine for supplying the warp and weft material, and removing the rolls of cloth, while the essentials of the weaving work are carried out on the other side. Access to the warp and cloth beams and displacement of these parts in the weaving shed will be carried out from one side only of the machine, while the passage provided for the weaver will be on the other side.

This arrangement is provided in order to be able to facilitate use of the coarsest warps. Since the warp is the heaviest element, it is preferably disposed at the base of the loom. The cloth feed roller will be disposed at the top of the machine, and the axis of the cloth beam can be disposed in front and higher than the axis of the cloth feed roller. lt is alsoiadvantageous, for the formation of a good shed, to dispose the warp tensioner as low as possible in front of the warp roller, and to run the nap of the warp threads substantially in a straight line from the tensioner to the cloth. The axis of the tensioner can advantageously be disposed in front of and lower than the axis of the warp roller.

ln order to be able to embody the essentials of all the desired performances, it is necessary to use the space available between the warp beam situated at the bottom of the loom, and the cloth beam situated at the top of the loom, only with those mechanisms necessary for the formation of the shed, to the exclusion of any other members. For this purpose, the shed forming mechanism will be tangent on the one hand to the maximum diameter of the warp beam, on the other hand to the maximum diameter of the cloth beam.

Since the maximum diameter of the cloth beam is generally smaller than the diameter of the warp beam, and'since their common tangent to the rear of the loom is substantially vertical, the present invention makes the best use of the distance between these two rollers, preferably by inclining the machinery actuating the frames, in such a way that they approach the perpendicular to the plane passing through the axes of the two beams. This inclination varies between 70 and 80 with respect to the horizontal.

Heretofore, in every proposal for a loom with a vertical warp, the frame drive is disposed in a manner identical to the drive utilized in looms with a horizontal warp. This is why this particular type of drive uses cams mounted on a shaft parallel to the main shaft (such as Draper, Newton and Kiener looms) which function identically whatever the position of the warp.

But this type of drive can be adapted only for a limited number of frames. Other drives which can be adapted to a large number of frames, for example such as dobbys, or eccentric boxes, provide their movement in each of the planes of the frames, in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames. These drives cannot be adapted directly to a change in direction of the warp; as a matter of fact, their drive shaft being perpendicular to the plane of the frames would pass to the vertical with a vertical warp having horizontal frames. Furthermore, these mechanisms often have selective parts working by their own weight, which would no longer These in this new position. This is why this kind of drive has not been considered when it was necessary to dispose the warp vertically.

On the other hand, with the device according to my invention, these dobbys are utilizable directly. This device comprises a casing formed essentially by two plates situated in planes parallel to the planes of the frames and substantially tangent to the maximum diameter of thel cloth and warp beams. These two plates are separated by cross members, interchangeable according to the number of frames and the diameter of the beam utilized. Between the plates, which are substantially horizontal, there are disposed, layer on layer, the mechanism comprising the connection between each of the frames and the respective drive elements of the driving box (eccentric box, dobby, etc.) which elements work in substantially vertical planes, providing a movement perpendicular to the movement of the frames. One connecting element, articulated at each of its ends, one end in the plane of the frames, the other end in the plane of the drive elements, is inserted in the connection between these members. These articulations may comprise elastic elements.

To reduce to a minimum the thickness of the mechanism situated between the cloth and warp beams, it is also advantageous to have the ends of the articulated connecting elements always remain between the planes of the casing of the mechanism.

When the selected diameter of the warp beam is very large, the space between the beams will be sufficient for a limited number of frames, while when it is desired to assemble the loom with a large number of frames, the diameter of the warp beam will be selected in a smaller size. A typical embodiment of the aforesaid arrangement will be for example, a warp beam 9l5 mm. in diameter (36 inches) and a cloth beam 500 mm. in diameter with a space of l20 mm. between the beams to accommodate the mechanism which willl operate about eight frames. The total height of the machine is 1,500 mm.; which is lower than the normal level of the human eye, thereby providing the operator with a clear view over the entire weaving shed. With the same machine height and a warp beam diameter of 800 mm., there will be a space of' 250 mm. between the beams, which will make it possible to accommodate l8 frames. In this case, it will be sufficient to change the crossmembers separating the two plates of the casing to permit mounting eighteen sets of levers. This reduction in the diameter of the beam is also justified by the fact that an article for which a large number of frames is required is not an article for which very long runs are required. The versatility of the loom will therefore be retained in spite of the fact that it takes up a very small space.

ln view of the size of the frames forming the shed, the depth of the loom is decreased by inclining the plane of the shed on the side of the beams, that is to say toward the interior of the loom, There is a minimum of depth for the shed plane inclination varying from 70 to 80 with respect. to the horizontal.

Especially in modem high-output looms, the movement of the frames is so rapid that their drive mechanism is heavily stressed and therefore is subject to flaws. In the typical arrangement of looms, when a repair has to be made, it is necessary to remove all the cloth and remove the warp beam to have access to these parts. ln the novel arrangement according to my invention, however, these parts are immediately accessible without even removing the tension from the cloth. Since all other mechanism are disposed to the right and left of the cloth, it is possible with this arrangement to malte repairs on the mechanism without removing the cloth.

Preferably, the laterally disposed dobby has its lever system at a conveniently accessible height. An adjustment of the position and travel of the frames will thus be facilitated.

High-speed looms generally have fixed shuttle boxes, and the position of the slay is also fixed during the passage of the shuttle. While in conventional looms the shuttle is always applied against the reed by the movement of the latter, the fact that the reed is fixed during the passage of the shuttle requires special guides for the passage of the shuttle through the shed. These guides emerge from the shed between two piel/ts to give the reed the chance to beat up the weft in the cloth. The guide elements cause defects indelicate cloths. There have been proposals to replace the heavy forces applying the shuttle against the reed in conventional looms by a fixed curvilinear path leading to a centrifugal force in a horizontal plane forcing the shuttle against the vertical reed. However, the action of gravity and centrifugal force do not act in the same plane, and the resultant force will vary in direction, which cannot be avoided. An advantage of the present invention is that fixed shuttle boxes can be used without the need for special guidance of the shuttle in the shed. As a matter of fact, the reed can be disposed horizontally. The effect of gravity acting on the shuttle always applies it to the reed with constant pressure, without defiecting it from its trajectory. The guidance effect of the warp threads will often suffice to keep the path of the shuttle in the shed laterally. Naturally, the eect of gravity can be increased by giving a circular path of the shuttle, thus creating a centrifugal force acting in the direction of gravity.

One difficulty which has caused loom manufacturers to use substantially vertical warps is the adaptation of the warp breaker. There have been proposals to pass the warp over guides between which it moves in a horizontal plane, and which can receive the riders of a conventional warp breaker. These guides create a barrier situated between the warp stretching member and the tightening of the weft, causing weft-tightening tensions varying according to the movement of the stretcher. Moreover, the barrier between the threadbreak point and the rider, considerably reduces the reliability of operation of the rider, since the broken thread can be pinched by another thread on the barrier.

There have been proposals for warp breakers in which riders similar to those normally in use, are inclined relative to the warp threads which are disposed substantially vertical as in a Kiener loom. During the breaking of a thread, the rider must slide at a certain angle to the vertical and its effect will thus be diminished.

There have also been proposals to thread the yarn in the rider giving it a complete turn between the two arms of the rider, for example as shown in Blair U.S. Pat. No. 798,653. Thus, a thread passes from one given side of the rider while another thread passes on the other side, the two threads forming a coil in the cavity of the rider. If one of the two threads breaks, its tension disappears and the rider is no longer held up. lts weight will make it fall and trigger the stopping of the loom.

Aside from the fact that the threading operation according to the above-mentioned process is very difficult to operate, it cannot be adapted particularly well to vertical-warp looms because the barrier formed by the coil between the two arms of the rider prevents the latter from sliding in the direction of the thread. It must be said that such mechanism was not designed for situations where a vertical warp is used.

The warp breaker according to the present invention is specifically adapted to vertical warps and cannot be used to detect thread breaks on a horizontal or slightly inclined warp. It consists in threading two warp threads in the rider, one thread from left to right, the other from right to left. Thus the rider is pinched between two threads and entrained upward by the movement of the warp. It is sufficient that one of the threads be stretched in order to release it and it can then slide in the direction of the axis of the thread downwardly by its own weight. Toward the bottom it will touch a contact and trip the loom in known manner. On the other hand, since two threads pass through the opening in the rider, the latter cannot react to the breaking of warp thread in the case of a horizontal warp, because it would be necessary for the two threads to break simultaneously in order to permit the rider to fall. This arrangement is therefore uniquely adapted to vertical warps moving upward.

One of the difficulties inherent in the utilization of steeply inclined warps is the guidance of the frames made necessary by their bending under the infiuence of their weight and the resulting friction.

In the case of a horizontal or slightly inclined warp, the frames will not have a tendency to rub against one another. They need only be guided to limit their possible oscillations under the influence of the movement of the warp and the slay. In the case of a vertical warp, or a strongly inclined one, the problem can be solved for small reeds by lateral guides for the frames as disclosed in Swiss Pat. No. 388,2 I6 to Ruti.

On the other hand, in looms with a vertical warp and large reed, the bending of the frames under the influence of their own weight is so great that allowance must be made for this when locating the intermediate guides.

There are such guides in the form of a reed for slightly inclined warps (Sulzer German Pat. No. 838,725), but these guides are not satisfactory in steeply inclined warps, since the weight of the frames necessitates such thick teeth in the guide reed, in order to avoid bending of the frames, that the distance from one frame to the next becomes too great. Now, specifically for working with a large number of frames, it is imperative to bring the frames as close together as possible. When a guide tooth bends, the weight of the upper frame acts on the frame situated below, increasing its friction work, and so forth. For a loom set up with eighteen frames, the friction work of the frame is about ten times greater when the weight of the frame acts on the lower frames, than if each frame acts on rigid guides.

The arrangement described makes it possible to have a fixed guide which can be very thin even with highly elastic materials such as plastics. They consist of separation plates, long enough to cover the arm of the frame to be guided in all its positions and are held outside the end position of the frames with inserts. The plates are thicker than the part of the frame to be guided, and are held on the other side by a thin removable spacer, passing between the healds and connecting all the separation plates (guides) to each other and with a rigid bottom plate.

To avoid weaving defects which might be created by an incorrect position ofthe inserted spacer, the latter can be made easily releasable or easily displaceable so as not to shift the healds laterally. This attachment can advantageously be achieved by permanent magnets.

The attached drawings shown, schematically, and by way of example, a loom according to the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of the loom.

FIG. 2 shows the circuit of the shuttle.

FIG. 3 is a section through the shed and the movement of the comb.

FIG. 4 is a section along II-Il of FIG. 2.

FIG. Sis a view of the slay and the slay drive mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the frame drive mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a modification of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9, 10, 1l and 12 show the warp breaker.

FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 show the frame guides.

The frame members l (FIGS. l and 5) are connected together by crossmembers 3 and 4 and a fixed shaft 5, which gives them rigidity. On these frames are fixed drive boxes 6 (FIGS. 5 and 6) containing the essential mechanism for the movement of the slay and the movement of the shuttle.

The warp beam ll of large diameter rotates around a fixed axis l2 in each of the frames l, and is driven in its unwinding direction by conventional means, not shown in the drawing. The warp threads l2 are unwound from the warp beam l1 and pass over the tensioning roller 14, then move upwardly toward the cloth l5, as they pass through the frames 16 provided with healds 17 and through reed 18 (FIGS. l and 3). The cloth l5 passes over a guide 200 and is drawn by a sand roller 103 which is rotatably actuated by conventional means not shown in the drawing, advancing the cloth which determines the tension of the weft threads. To insure good adhesion of the cloth to the sand roller, a shaft 201 guides the cloth over as large a perimeter as possible of the sand roller 103, after which the cloth is wound on the cloth beam 25 by the usual means.

The tensioning roller 14 rotates freely on its axis 202, which,

is fixed in levers 102 pivoting on fixed shaft 5. The levers 102; are also connected to leaf springs 100 by means of rod 101.

spring. This arrangement makes is possible to limit the varia-A tions in the warp tension due to variations in the force of the spring as a function of the displacement of the tensioning roller 14. This advantage, which cannot be obtained with conventional horizontal warp looms without incurring impediments of the warp, is an additional advantage of the vertical arrangement. The frames 16 are connected to the drive mechanism by rods 31 and levers 32 rotating on their axes 33. The entire mechanism is disposed between two plates 9 0 and 90', separated by cross braces 91, whose height can vary cording to the number of frames 16 utilized as shown in solid and dotted lines in FIG. 1. This mechanism rshown in detailin FIG. 7 will be described later. Plates 90 and 90', cloth beam 25 and warm beam 11 are disposed in such a way that the` upper plate 90' will be tangent to the maximum diameter 205,A

of the cloth beam 25, while the lower plate 90 will be tangent to the maximum diameter 206 of the warp beam l1.

The circulation of the shuttle in the embodiment shown, is characterized by a continuous, nonstop movement of the shuti tle in a closed channel as described in Pat. No. 3,378,041 .m The drive roller 23 is driven at a constant speed and drives `or throws shuttle 19 by means of drive box 24 in the shed formed` which it undergoes while passing through theshed. On leaving the receiving roller 21, the shuttle is thrown into the return channel 22 and is picked up by the semicircular channel formed in the drive roller 23 driven by pulleys in the same manner as receiving roller 21, with an endless belt 203 guided by pulleys 204 and is again ejected into a new shed.

In the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, reed 18 is curved such a way that shuttle 19 moves in an arc of a circle, in a vert tical plane. This movement imparts a Vcentrifugal force C which is added to the gravity G, and more forcibly applies shuttle 19 against reed 18. m

To avoid wear on the reed 18, which might affect the wear of the warp threads, the surfaces of shuttle 19 which rub on the reed are made out of plastic material such a nylon, Teflon, or the like. j

The plane of rollers 21 and 23 will preferably be vertical. In order that the shuttle return channel 22 will not disturb movement of warp threads 13, it is necessary that the mean` plane of the latter be inclined with respect to the plane of rollers. This adaptation dictates anv inclination of the mean plane of the warp between 70 and 80 i The weft thread unwound from a fixed bobbin notshown is caught in known fashion by the shuttle before it enters the shed, and is then released as it leaves the shed. j ,V

The weft thread introduced by shuttle 19 will be pressed by reed into the cloth 15. When the reed is curved to force the shuttle against the reed, the warp thread will,be held in thev cloth due to the curvilinear form. In order that the cloth can be wound on its beam 25 with rectilinear wefts', the cloth between its point of formation 26 and thebeam 25, will pass over a guide 30, also curvilinear, in such4 a way that the` free length of the cloth between the beam 25 and the point of formation 26 will bethe same throughout.V This guide 30 can be combined with the crossmember 3, (FIG. 3).

The drive ofthe heald frames by the dobby according to the invention has the characteristic that while the movement `of the frames and their levers is accomplished in substantially horizontal superposed planes, said movement is provided by members moving in juxtaposed vertical planes in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames. This characteristic has` the advantage of being able to adapt, to vertical warp looms, any ordinary dobby including high speed dobbies. With this in mind, there is provided a connection member, one pivot point of which will work in a vertical plane, or other in a horizontal plane.

A preferred arrangement of the levers is shown in FIG. 7. One of the frames 16 is attached at two points in a known manner by two rods 31 and 31. One of the rods 31 is actuated by an arm 31a of a three-arm lever 32 rotating on a shaft 33. A second arm B2b of the lever 32 transmits, by means of link 34 and bent lever 32', the movement to the second rod 31' attached to frame 16, while the third arm 32C of the lever 32 is connected to the dobby by means of helical link 35 and arms 36a of levers 36 pivoting on a common spindle or shaft 37. Rods 38 connect the levers 36 tothe dobby. When the pitch of the dobby approaches the pitch of the frames, it is desirable to select the length of arm 32C of lever 32 increased from frame to frame by a length equal tothe pitch of the dobby, while the length of arms 36a of levers 36 will increase by a length equal to the pitch of the frames. Thus the helical links 35 will, in

` means position, be parallel to one another.`

The shafts 33 on which levers 32 and 32 pivotare fixed between two plates and 90'. nThe plates: 90 and 90' are connected together by interchangeable cross braces 91 whose height corresponds to the number `of frames it is desired to use. The loweimplate 90 is disposed tangentially to the warp beam l1, whilethe upperplate 90', also visible in FIG. 1l, is disposed tangentially to the cloth beam 25.'

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the plates 90 and 90' are fixeddirectly to the frames 1 in which the shaft 12 ofthe warp beamll rotates. Shaft 37 is fixed to frame 1 by means of supports 210.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 8. ln this case the connection between the frames 16 and the levers 250 driven from the dobby is achieved by means of cables. The lower plate 251 is substantially tangent to the warp beam 11. On the plate 251 are fixed five shafts 252 on which are stacked a se ries of pulleys 253, one for each frame 16, or a set of five pulleys per frame. One cable 254 is mounted on each set of pulleys in such a way that two strands 254 move in the direction of the movement of the frame and in the same way. Levers 255 provided with grippers k260 grip the cable 254 and the strands 254 and transmit the movement. of the cable to the frames 16. Each cable 254 passes from one of` the sets of pul` leys 253 situated in substantially horizontal superposed planes, to another pulley 256, each pulley 256 rotating on a single shaft 2601,in juxtaposed vertical planes. Levers 250 fixed on the pulleys 256 receive the motions of the dobby by means of rods 257 connected with levers: 250 and the dobby which is shown diagrammatically. The direction of movement of the rods 257 is shown by arrows 257". As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, cross braces 258i separate the lower plate 251 and the upper plate, not shown., which is tangent to the cloth beam 25. Otherwise, the arrangement is similar to the arrangement shown in FIG. '7.

An example ofthe construction of the sllay is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The sla'y movement drive is insured by two double cams 41 mounted in drive boxes 6 situated on either side of the cloth 15. The cams 41, connected together by shaft 47, act on the roller fitted arms 42 fixed with the central members 43 extending under or behind the cloth. The central members 43 rotate on an axis defined by bearings 44 and 45. In FIG. 5 there are two variations of assembly of the slay axes. To the right, the central member is rigid throughout its `entire length and is fixed at both ends in bearings 44 and 45. A packing 46 insures the tightness of box 6. To the left, the roller fitted arms 42 are fixed in box 6 by means of bearings 44 and 44', while the central member 43 of the slay is connected to the shaft 48 by a clutch 49 which permits an angular distortion. ln the center ofthe loom, the central member is, as on the left, centered in bearing 45. Bearings 45 are fixed to frames 1, 1' by means of support l by means of crossmembers 3 and 4 (FIG. l). The central member 43 is provided with a plurality of levers 50, rather close to one another, at the end of which the reed carrier S1 is fixed. ln view of the large number of levers 50, the reed carrier 5l can be very light. Reed-holder 5l will advantageously be made in one piece. To avoid the danger of breakage, the attachment of the reed carrier 5l can be resiliently secured at least to the two levers 50 ofthe two symmetrical systems.

FIGS. 9, 10, 11, and l2 show an embodiment of stop motion of warp breaker adapted to a vertical or an approximately vertical warp. The warp threads 13 coming from the warp beam ll pass under roller 14 and guides 60 and 6l. Beyond guide 6l, the threads separate and from the shed. Between guides 60 and 6l each pair of threads will pass in a rider in the form ofa blade 62 with an opening 63. Each thread in a pair of threads will be threaded, one in one direction, the other in the opposite direction in the opening 63, in such a way that they will cross in said opening. Blade 62 is thus clamped between the two threads and driven by a frictional force which can be greater than its weight. The yarn moves upward and the elements 62 are forced against the upper guides 64 and 65 when the tension of the two threads is normal. If the tension of one of the threads diminishes for any reason, for example sue to a breakage, blade 62 being no longer clamped, falls onto guides 66 and 67 due to its own weight, and closes an electric circuit stopping the machine, An insulating plate 68 and an insulating washer 68' are provided to insulate the guide 67 from the portion of the machine to which guide 66 is connected.

Advantageously guides 64, 65, 66, 67 of blades 62 are disposed in such a way that the blades 62 are inclined. They can form an angle (FIG. l) smaller than 90 even if the warp is inclined to the vertical. The center of gravity of the blade will then be lower than the thread gripping point, and a stable equilibrium is established. An angle of inclination of the blades of 45 degrees to the vertical is especially advantageous. Also, separations 69 can be provided for example, ever l0 cm, to facilitate the balance of the blades.

To reduce the threading density of the blades, they can be placed in several rows. In addition, when the naps of threads are particularly entangled, there is provided, in the event the proposed blades are used as thread sensors, a preliminary separation by known means in advance of the blade system, such as, for example a division of the threads by guide 60. FIGS. Il and l2 show a simple means for the threading of blades 62. For each threading of a blade, the warp is provided with a cross formed of two guides 70 and 70' on which the threads intersect one by one (FIG. l2). Two threads 13 being separated from the others, are threaded on the blade- 62 sideways, then straightened by bringing them beside the last blade threaded (FIG. ll). This operation takes very little longer than the threading of one conventional blade and is effective for the control of two threads. There will therefore be one-half the number of blades to thread, which results in a` savmg.

FIGS. I3, 14 and 15 show two embodiments of frame guides for wide loom. In FIG. 2 there is shown schematically two frames 16 guided in their lateral guides 270. When the machine is not very wide, these two lateral guides may be sufficient. Frames 16 can bend under their own weight, which causes the shape of frames 16 to resemble the shape of reed 18. The frames 16 can even be slightly bent so that they will more closely approximate this shape. When the machine is wider, intermediate guides 7l are necessary (FIG. 3).

On base plate 72, which is fixed rigidly on the stationary part of the loom, separation plates 73 are secured by means of spacers 74 and screws 75. The spacers are thicker than the arms 76 of the frame to be guided, so that the latter may move readily between the separation plates 73.

On the side opposite the side where they are secured by screws 75, the separation plates are held apart by a removable spacer 77 provided with recesses 78 in which the separation plates 73 are disposed and a recess 79 which engages the edge of the baseplate 72.

The free space between the intermediate spacers 74 and the spacer 77 is large enough for the arm 76 of the frame to be guided, plus the rod 80 attaching the healds 8l permitting them to carry out their maximum travel.

To facilitate disassembly of spacer 77, the latter is provided with two armatures 82 engaging the poles 83 of a permanent magnet 84 fixed on the guide.

In FIG. l5 there is shown a means of reinforcing the separation plates 85 made, for example, of plastic, by iron members 86 which are spaced apart by spacer 87. This spacer is held in position in this embodiment by a catch fastener 88.

The arrangement according to the invention is not simply an arbitrary choice of the various parts of a loom. It embodies very special conditions for obtaining a very special optimum goal. Time and again attempts have been made to dispose the warps vertically to facilitate the view and the work of the weaver, but all these attempts have failed, either because the problem was not considered as a whole, or because the designers stopped in pursuit ofa solution by necessity as is the case with circular looms or double looms, without being able to sue the essential advantages of the system. In looms of this type, the mechanisms are situated between the planes of the warps, hence are inaccessible without disassembling at least one of the warps. Moreover, the arrangement of the various mechanisms between the two beams excludes the possibility of making a machine lower than the normal field of vision. Surveillance of the machines will thus be unfavorable. The principal advantages obtained by the present invention are:

l. Minimum size for beams of large dimensions.

2. Visibility throughout the weaving shed.

3. Separation of maintenance work from the weavers station.

4. Absence of special shuttle guidance.

5. All mechanisms can be accessible without demounting.

6. The warp thread tensioner has a more uniform action due to the effect of the weight and springs.

7. The stop motions or warp breakers are simpler (half the number of blades, and more operative).

lclaim:

l. A loom including a dobby comprising, in combination, a warp beam in the base of the loom, a tensioning roller located lower than the axis of the warp beam, healds disposed above said tensioning roller for guiding the warp threads to form a shed limited at its lower end with a reed, frames for said healds, means for picking the weft threads through the shed, a sand roller disposed Iat the upper part ofthe loom for taking up the woven fabric, the medial plane of the shed being directed from said tensioning roller to said sand roller and enclosing with a vertical plane an angle between 0 and 25, a cloth beam whose axis together with the axis of the warp beam are located in a plane substantially parallel to the median plane of the shed, actuating means for the frame of said healds, said actuating means being located in the same plane with the frames which they are extended with on a substantial part of the depth of the loom, the actuating means of' the lowest of said frames being located substantially tangentially to the upper part of the warp beam, the actuating means of the highest of said frames being located tangentially to the upper part of the cloth beam, frame guide plates disposed centrally of said frames, each of said frames including an arm, said guide plates covering the arm of the frame to be guided in all positions thereof, a plurality of spacer members disposed outside the frame and supporting one end of said plates, a removable spacer disposed within the frame for supporting the opposite end of said guide plates, said plurality of spacer members being thicker than the arm of the frame to be guided so that said arm may move freely between said plates, a baseplate, and' means connecting said spacer members and said guide plates to said baseplate.

2. A loom including a dobby comprising, in combination, a warp beam in the base of the loom, a tensioning roller located toward the outside of the warp beam and with its axis lower than the axis of the warp beam, healds disposed above said tensioning roller for guiding the warp threads to form a shed limited at its lower end with a reed, frames for said healds, means for picking the weft threads through the shed, a sand roller disposed at the upper part of the loom adjacent the same side of the loom as said tensioning roller for taking up the woven fabric, the median plane of the shed being directed from said tensioning roller to said sand roller to define a sub stantially flat plane therebetween enclosing with a vertical plane an angle between and 25, a clothbeam mounted in the top of the loom behind said sand roller the axes of said cloth beam and warp beam located in a plane substantially parallel to said median plane of the shed, actuating means for moving each of the frames of said healds, said actuating means being located in the same plane with the frames which they are extended with on a substantial part of the depth ofthe loom, said actuating means of the lowermost of said frames being located substantially tangentially to the upper part of the warp beam and said actuating means of the highest of said frames being located tangentially to the lower part of said cloth beams, first and second lever means, said first lever means connected at one end to said actuating means and connected at its other end to said second lever means, said second lever means connected to said dobby, a spindle on which said tirst lever means is pivotally mounted, `said spindle being substantially parallel to the direction of movement of said frames, whereby the movements of said dobby are transmitted to said actuating means.

3. A loom according to claim. 2 wherein said actuating means includes a series of interconnected links and levers disposed in substantially horizontal superposed planes and said first lever means moves in a juxtaposed vertical plane in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames.

4. A loom according to claim 2 wherein said actuating means includes a series of substantially horizontal stacked pulleys for each of said frames and a cable sheaved over each series of said pulleys, said cable passing from one of the series of said pulleys to a pulley integral with said first lever means, said first lever means moving in a juxtaposed vertical plane in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames. 

1. A loom including a dobby comprising, in combination, a warp beam in the base of the loom, a tensioning roller located lower than the axis of the warp beam, healds disposed above said tensioning roller for guiding the warp threads to form a shed limited at its lower end with a reed, frames for said healds, means for picking the weft threads through the shed, a sand roller disposed at the upper part of the loom for taking up the woven fabric, the medial plane of the shed being directed from said tensioning roller to said sand roller and enclosing with a vertical plane an angle between 0* and 25*, a cloth beam whose axis together with the axis of the warp beam are located in a plane substantially parallel to the median plane of the shed, actuating means for the frame of said healds, said actuating means being located in the same plane with the frames which they are extended with on a substantial part of the depth of the loom, the actuating means of the lowest of said frames being located substantially tangentially to the upper part of the warp beam, the actuating means of the highest of said frames being located tangentially to the upper part of the cloth beam, frame guide plates disposed centrally of said frames, each of said frames including an arm, said guide plates covering the arm of the frame to be guided in all positions thereof, a plurality of spacer members disposed outside the frame and supporting one end of said plates, a removable spacer disposed within the frame for supporting the opposite end of said guide plates, said plurality of spacer members being thicker than the arm of the frame to be guided so that said arm may move freely between said plates, a baseplate, and means connecting said spacer members and said guide plates to said baseplate.
 2. A loom including a dobby comprising, in combination, a warp beam in the base of the loom, a tensioning roller located toward the outside of the warp beam and with its axis lower than the axis of the warp beam, healds disposed above said tensioning roller for guiding the warp threads to form a shed limited at its lower end with a reed, frames for said healds, means For picking the weft threads through the shed, a sand roller disposed at the upper part of the loom adjacent the same side of the loom as said tensioning roller for taking up the woven fabric, the median plane of the shed being directed from said tensioning roller to said sand roller to define a substantially flat plane therebetween enclosing with a vertical plane an angle between 0* and 25*, a cloth beam mounted in the top of the loom behind said sand roller the axes of said cloth beam and warp beam located in a plane substantially parallel to said median plane of the shed, actuating means for moving each of the frames of said healds, said actuating means being located in the same plane with the frames which they are extended with on a substantial part of the depth of the loom, said actuating means of the lowermost of said frames being located substantially tangentially to the upper part of the warp beam and said actuating means of the highest of said frames being located tangentially to the lower part of said cloth beams, first and second lever means, said first lever means connected at one end to said actuating means and connected at its other end to said second lever means, said second lever means connected to said dobby, a spindle on which said first lever means is pivotally mounted, said spindle being substantially parallel to the direction of movement of said frames, whereby the movements of said dobby are transmitted to said actuating means.
 3. A loom according to claim 2 wherein said actuating means includes a series of interconnected links and levers disposed in substantially horizontal superposed planes and said first lever means moves in a juxtaposed vertical plane in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames.
 4. A loom according to claim 2 wherein said actuating means includes a series of substantially horizontal stacked pulleys for each of said frames and a cable sheaved over each series of said pulleys, said cable passing from one of the series of said pulleys to a pulley integral with said first lever means, said first lever means moving in a juxtaposed vertical plane in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the frames. 